'We should let nature be and plan our cities better'

'We should let nature be and plan our cities better'

'In the freedom struggle and immediately after that, we had a sense of belonging to the same world, to the same country, to India. We have lost that sense of oneness. We have been manipulated and divided and that saddens me today,' says Dhoom 3 Director Vijay Krishna Acharya in Rediff.com's continuing series where well-known Indians speak about the India they love.

I love the diversity, the change in topography, the change in cuisine every few miles from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.

Each locality has its own food and it is fantastic!

There is diversity among people, language, colour and yet there exists a core link with each other of being Indian.

We are blessed by nature with beauty.

From the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas to the boundless Indian Ocean, we have rivers, valleys, plains and plateaus.

From the beautiful islands in Nicobar to Lakshadweep, there is nothing in the world that is not in India.

We should let nature be and plan our cities better.

Our architecture and city planning should align with nature and not destroy it.

We have succeeded as a democracy.

Time and again, people have proved that they can change the government, they have shown the political class their place. We have an activist judiciary.

There are many people who have become the conscience of the masses.

There are protests everywhere when the need arises.

The role of the media has to be appreciated, not exactly the way it should be but good to a large extent.

The optimism that prevailed immediately after Independence is not there today.

In the freedom struggle and immediately after that we had a sense of belonging to the same world, to the same country, to India.

Now we are divided, that is our biggest failure.

We have lost that sense of oneness.

We have been manipulated and divided and that saddens me today.

If there is one thing I could change in our country, it would be the social and economic disparity.

One man's telephone bill is another man's earnings for a year.

Vijay Krishna Acharya is the director of Dhoom 3, the biggest Bollywood hit ever, and Tashan.